Railroad-switch



2 SheetS- -Sheet 1.

=No Model.)

A. M. DREISBACH. RAILROAD SWITCH? No. 559,268. Patented Apr. 28, 1896.

ANDREW B.GRAHAM4 MQTO-LITNU.WA5HIN6TON. D C

2 Sh eets Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

A. M. DREISBAGH.

RAILROAD SWITCH.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AMOS M. DEEIsBAcrI, or OABEL, PENNSYLVANIA, AssreNon 'ro LEw1s CORELLE,or sAME PLACE, AND LAFAYETTE FROMETTER, GEORGE FROMETTER, AND JAMESKASEMAN, OF sI-IAMOKIN, PENNSYLVANIA.

RAILROAD-SWITCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 559,268, dated April28, 1896.

Application filed April 1 7, 1 8 9 5.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, AMos M. DREISBACH, a citizen of the United States,residing at (label, in the county of, Northumberland and State ofPennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Railroad Switch, of whichthe following is a specification. 9

My invention relates to railroad switch mechanism, and has for itsobject to provide a simple, efficient, and comparatively inexpensivearrangement of parts whereby a frog for the intersection of the innersiding and main track rails to support the inner wheels of a car inpassing from the main to the siding track, or vice versa', may beavoided, and

vention will appear in the following description,and the novel featuresthereof will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a switch mechanismconstructed in accordance with my invention,the parts being shown intheir normal positions which they occupy when the switch mechanism isset for the main track. Fig. 2 is a detail View in perspective of thefrog-rail and operating mechanism, the parts being shown in thepositions indicated in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a similar view showing thefrog-rail arranged in alinement with the siding-track, as when the treadrails or bars are depressed by the wheels of a car. Fig. 4 is atransverse section on the line 4 4 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a detail View inperspective of the main switch-rails and operating parts set for thesiding-track. Fig. 0 is a detail section on the line 6 6 of Fig. 1.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all thefigures of the drawings.

1 designates the main-track rails and 2 the gerial No. 546,071. (Nomodel.)

siding-track rails, the inner siding and main track rails being arrangedto intersect, as in the ordinary construction. The pivotal switch-railsand 4 are arranged to aline at their extremities with the main-trackrails when the switch is set for the siding-traek, the rail 3 beingadapted to bear at its extremity against one side of the main-trackrail, while the switch-rail 4 is of greater height than the track-railsand is cut away to fit over the tread of the same, as clearly shown inFig. 5. The tread of this switch-rail 4 is inclined at its extremitiesto agree with the plane of the treads of the main rails, and is raisedat its center to a height above the tread of the main rails equal to orgreater than the flange of a wheel, whereby the wheel which is supportedby said switch-rail 4 is carried over the main-track rail. This avoidsthe necessity of cutting or breaking the continuity of the rail andcausing the wheels of the car to jump the interval between the partsthereof.

The means for adjusting the switch-rails to the main or siding trackpositions consist of a switch arm or lever 5, connected by means of alink 6 to the switch-bar 7, and this switchbar comprises a rod 8,secured at points near its extremities to the switch-rails 3 and 4, anda slide 9, mounted upon the rod and having a limited sliding movementthereon. Said slide comprises the terminal eyes 10, connected by a bar11, and interposed between the outer eye 10 and the shoulder 12 on therod 8 is a coiled spring 13. The movement of the slide 9 is limited by astop 14 on the rod 8 when the lever or handle is swung in a direction towithdraw the extremities of the switch-rails from engagement with themain-track rails, and when the lever or handle is moved in the oppositedirection, to cause the switch-rails to connect with the main-trackrails, the movement of the slide is communicated to the rod 8 throughthe coiled spring, and hence the switch-rails are held with a firmspring-pressure against the track-rails to prevent accidentaldisplacement.

A frog-rail 15 is employed to connect the portion 2 of the innersiding-track rail or the portion thereof which is between. the maintrackrails with the portion 2 thereof which is beyond the inner main-trackrail, said frograil being of greater height than the trackrails in orderto carry the flanges of the wheels over the main-track rail in enteringthe siding. This frog-rail is cut away to extend over and rest upon thetreads of the main and sidin g track rails when the parts are in thepositions shown in Fig. 3, and the extremities of the tread of thefrog-rail are beveled to allow the Wheels of a car to pass upon and fromthe same with facility. The stationary stops 16 are arranged upon theties contiguous to the extremity of the portion 2 of the siding-trackrail, said stops being elevated slightly above the tread of this portionof the rail, whereby the movement of the frog-rail 15 beyond its properposition in alinement with the sidingtrack rail is prevented. The freeend of the frog-rail is supported, when out of alinement with thesiding-track rail, by means of guideblocks 17, which are flush at theirupper sides with the tread of the main-track rail, and said guide-blocksand stops are secured to the ties by means of iron plates 18.

The means forimparting motion to the frograil to arrange it in itsvarious positions comprise a rock-shaft 19, having a crank-arm 20, whichis connected by a bar 21 with the frograil. The bar 21 is provided witha depressed central portion 22 to pass under the contiguous siding-track rail, a raised outer extremity having a bearing 23, which isfitted upon a trunnion 24 at the extremity of the crank-arm 20, and araised inner extremity 25, having a slotted extension 26 connected bymeans of a loop 27 with the rail 15. The slotted connection between theextension and the loop provides for in dependent longitudinal movementof said parts, and an expansion-spring 23, which is interposed betweenthe elevated inner end of the connecting-bar and the end of the loop,has the effect of forcing the frog-rail against the stops 16 with a firmpressure when the connecting-bar is in the position indicated in Fig. 3.A retraction-spring 29 is employed to return the parts to the positionsshown in 1 Figs. 1 and 2, in which the frog-rail is out of alinementwith the siding-track rails and the main track is open.

The means for imparting motion to the rock-shaft to throw the frog-railto alinement with the siding-track rails comprise tread-rails 30 and 31,the former being preferably longer than the latter and extending beyondthe free end of the frog-rail 15, whereby a car in entering the sidingruns upon the tread-rail 30 and depresses the latter before the oppositewheel comes into a position to contact with the extremity of thefrog-rail. The tread-rails 30 and 31 are pivoted at their remote ends,and at their free inner or contiguous extremities are connected by meansof links 32 to the free end of a crank-arm 33. Hence the depression ofone of the tread-rails turns the rock-shaft sufficiently to throw thefrog-rail into alinement with the inner siding-track rail. The

tread-rails are arranged parallel with and contiguous to the outer sideof the outer sidingtrack rail and between the same and an auxiliary rail34:, said auxiliary rail having offset terminal portions 35, which bearagainst the outer side of the outer siding-track rail and thus form acavity of a width approximately equal to that of the tread-rails. Thetreadrails are equal in height to the track-rails, and hence whendepressed are flush at their upper edges with the treads of thetraclcrails, as indicated in Fig. 3. The rock-shaft is mounted at itsextremities in bearings 36 at the outer ends of brackets 37, secured tothe under surfaces of the outer siding-track rail and the auxiliaryrail.

From the above description it will be seen that as a car approaches theintersection of the main and siding track rails one of the tread-railsWhich normally stands at an inclination to the plane of the treads ofthe trackrails is depressed, and motion is thereby communicated to thefrog-rail to throw the free end of the latter over the innersiding-track rail, whereby the wheels upon that side of the car arecarried over the main-track rail without contact therewith, and thecombined lengths of the tread-rails is such that the wheels of one truckof a car do not leave one of the tread-rails until the wheels on theother truck of said car pass upon the outer end of 'the othertread-rail. In this way the frograil is held permanently in itsoperative position during the passage to or from the siding-track of anentire train. Furthermore, the cushion-springs which are used betweenthe connecting-bar and the frog-rail and between the slide and theshoulder of the rod forming one member of the switch-bar prevent thejarring of the parts in moving them to their adjusted positions and atthe same time serve to hold the parts of the switch mechanism in theiradjusted positions against displacement by vibration or otherwise.

The advantage in pivotally mounting the remote ends of the tread-railsat fixed points upon the rail and arranging their free inner ends at aninterval such that they will be approximately in contact when thetread-rails are depressed resides in the fact that the operation of thetread-rails consists solely of a downward swinging movement thereofinstead of a combined swinging and sliding movement, as in tread-railsheretofore designed for a similar purpose. In a device of this class itis the object to attain the desired result with the minimum amount ofmove ment and friction, and by the arrangement above described the onlyfriction is that caused at the pivotal points by the swinging movementof the rails, the weight of said rails serving to assist the depressionthereof, and at the same time when depressed their free ends areapproximately in contact, whereby a wheel traverses the interval withoutjar.

Various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details ofconstruction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit orsacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim is- 1. The combination withmain and siding track rails, the former being continuous, of a pivotalfrog-rail adapted to aline with the inner siding-track rail, arock-shaft, connections between the rock-shaft and said frograil,tread-rails arranged contiguous to, and parallel with, the outersiding-track rail and having their remote ends pivoted at fixed pointsto said rail and their free inner ends arranged at an interval wherebythey are approximately in contact when the upper edges of thetread-rails are in the plane of the tread of the track-rail,andindependent connections between the inner free ends of the tread-railsand said rock-shaft, substantially as specified.

2. The combination with main and siding track rails, the former beingcontinuous, of a pivotal frog-rail having its tread above the plane ofthe treads of the track-rails and adapted to swing thereover to occupy aposition in alinement with the siding-track rail, stops to limit themovement of the frog-rail, a rock-shaft, a connecting-rodbetween therock-shaft and the frog-rail and having a sliding connection with thelatter, a cushionspring interposed between the connecting-rod and thefrog-rail, and a retracting spring to remove the frog-rail fromalinement with the siding-track rail, substantially as specified.

3. The combination with main and siding track rails, the former beingcontinuous, and a frog-rail adapted to swing over the same to aline withthe inner siding-track rail, of a rock-shaft,a connecting-barbetween therockshaft and the frog-rail, a cushion-spring between the connecting-barand the frog-rail,

stops to limit the movement of the frog-rail,

